GeoTrust adds Cyota's anti-phishing data to TrustWatch toolbar

As part of the agreement, GeoTrust will incorporate Cyota's anti-phishing data into the free GeoTrust TrustWatch toolbar to provide consumers with comprehensive and timely protection from new phishing scams. In addition, GeoTrust joins Cyota's global eFraudNetwork, the Internet's largest financial fraud detection network comprised of thousands of banks around the world, major ISPs and other technology companies.

"Industry research has shown that thousands of new phishing scams are introduced each month, exposing consumers to an avalanche of fraudulent communications from what they assume are trusted financial services and e- commerce providers," said Neal Creighton, CEO of GeoTrust. "Today, the TrustWatch toolbar easily verifies the authenticity of domains for thousands of Internet consumers. By adding near real-time attack data from Cyota, we are making good on our pledge to continuously expand and improve the protection that TrustWatch provides consumers."

Cyota, on behalf of its financial institution customers, gathers real-time data on new and emerging phishing attacks. The company's FraudAction anti-phishing solution detects attacks by using a wide range of sources and technologies, including data from the eFraudNetwork and scanning the Internet and e-mail streams. Cyota's Anti-Fraud Command Center takes down the spoofed sites, deploys countermeasures and performs forensic work to catch would-be thieves. Through its global detection network and anti-phishing expertise, Cyota will provide GeoTrust with updated anti-phishing data for incorporation into the TrustWatch toolbar.

"A consumer's best weapon against phishing is an intelligence-driven, automated tool that can verify the authenticity of websites and block access to fraudulent ones," said Amir Orad, executive vice president at Cyota. "By combining our global phishing intelligence with the GeoTrust TrustWatch toolbar, consumers can rest easy that they are operating within a trusted domain for managing their online financial and e-commerce accounts. And financial institutions will know that more of their users are now protected from fraudulent sites and phishing attacks."

Introduced by GeoTrust in fall of 2004, TrustWatch is the industry's first free domain verification search site and toolbar developed to help consumers combat the near-epidemic levels of online identity theft and credit card fraud. The TrustWatch search site uses patent-pending technology to allow consumers to enter any website or domain name into a search box and receive a verification rating that provides consumers with more confidence when exchanging personal and payment information with an online business.

The TrustWatch toolbar is a customizable browser extension that displays information to help consumers instantly verify the identity and check security standards of websites that are conducting e-business or requesting confidential information.